Magon Hoffman said she never saw herself as someone who would choose to terminate a pregnancy.
In 2022, the Oklahoma City resident went through fertility treatment to conceive her second daughter, Lottie. She said she was excited.
But around 14 weeks, Hoffman said she woke up bleeding. What she worried was a miscarriage turned out to be a large blood clot that had developed because a portion of her placenta had lifted from her cervix. She said this basically put her on bed rest for weeks.
Later, Hoffman received news at her anatomy scan that Lottie had anencephaly, meaning her brain and skull never developed. She was told there was no chance of survival and said she was given two options: carry to term and deliver in Oklahoma – risking Hoffman's health and watching her daughter die – or leave the state to terminate the pregnancy.
When Oklahoma providers combed through the state’s laws at the time, Hoffman said they determined they could only read off a list of abortion clinics to her – a list she already had found online. She traveled to New Mexico and spent about $6,000 to end her pregnancy.
Over time, and with support, Hoffman gathered the courage to tell her story.
“If I was going to advocate, it was going to be in Oklahoma,” Hoffman said. “It was going to be to my neighbors. It was going to be to my extended family. It was going to be to some of my close family members. … They say if you want to change the world, you start at home.”
That’s the mission of repro46 – a group that launched earlier this year.
Since Oklahoma’s near-total abortion ban went into effect, providers and thousands of people who have left the state to receive care have experienced its impacts. The group hopes to educate Oklahomans on those continued effects by bringing people from all walks of life together to have conversations about reproductive health care.
It's a sister organization to We Are Rising, a grassroots movement founded in response to Oklahoma’s abortion ban.
“What [We Are Rising] realized is that policy change, which was the ultimate goal, was going to be difficult and a long road in the state,” said Janet Levit, repro46’s executive consultant, “And that there was so much misinformation, so much mythology, so much fake news, for lack of a better term, around abortion care, that they almost wanted to step back and do some of the groundwork.”
Levit said repro46's target audience is people across the political spectrum who are in the middle when it comes to abortion. Its strategy is three-pronged: comprehensive communication across different forms of media, larger educational events and more intimate five-to-ten-person conversations called “Open House, Open Minds.”
“The idea is to start these conversations and that they have sort of a ripple effect that gets beyond our own echo chambers,” Levit said.
Facilitators, ranging from an OB-GYN to young advocates, have been trained to lead these conversations in any interested party’s home. The facilitators will either bring their own abortion stories or a recorded one.
Isabella Gaberino, the group’s chief administrative officer, said these conversations are not meant to change people’s minds but to highlight facts – like how over 50% of Oklahoma’s counties are maternity care deserts – and answer questions.
“We want it to be a trusted space where people can really talk to people that they already know and … try to create a space that people can really feel comfortable – just moving them … from judgment to empathy,” Gaberino said.
The group has also hosted panel discussions, including Oklahoma providers, reproductive rights advocate Hadley Duvall and Hoffman. Hoffman said she was drawn to the group because it respects all opinions, allowing her to share her story and let those who listen decide how they feel.
“So when repro46 launched, and I saw their mission, I just kind of doubled down with them as a group and was like, ‘That's what I've been looking for,’ and this is what I think is necessary if there's ever going to be a chance to open people's eyes,” Hoffman said.
The group is also hosting Hoffman’s podcast, “Letters to Our Daughters,” on its website. It includes conversations with women impacted by Roe v. Wade being overturned. She said she hopes to find more people impacted by Oklahoma’s ban and to let them know they aren’t alone.
“I truly believe that if every woman, who has had to deal with the repercussion(s) of these laws in our state, stood up collectively and said this is what happened to us, then the rest of the people in our state wouldn't be able to just push it under the rug,” Hoffman said.
Dr. Jennifer Nelson, an OB-GYN from Oklahoma City, also participated in a panel and is serving as a repro46 board member. Amid Oklahoma’s abortion ban, Nelson said she’s seen tubal sterilizations double in her practice and has found herself being “more forceful” when discussing contraception with her patients.
Nelson said she was drawn to being an OB-GYN because it allowed her to create long-term relationships with her patients. She said her ability to foster those relationships hasn’t changed. But she said some of her younger patients are coming in with concerns about the ban, while some of her older patients are “deeply saddened.”
“They are appalled that their granddaughters don't have the same rights as them, and they are appalled that something they fought so hard for was kind of destroyed,” Nelson said.
She said when you hear stories like Hoffman’s, it can be easier to criticize Oklahoma’s ban. But she hopes people can begin to think broader than that.
“I think that they also need to think about the 22-year-old who always uses contraception and one time forgets, and she's got a job that doesn't pay well. She doesn't have insurance. … She doesn't want a pregnancy, and there's nothing wrong with that.” Nelson said. “... Or the 35-year-old woman with four kids and a husband who's abusive. I mean we just don't think about that because maybe we're all lucky enough not to be in that position.”
Asked if she thinks Oklahomans are ready to hear repro46’s message, Levit said she is optimistic.
“We believe that policy change, whether it's through the legislature or whether it's through some type of ballot initiative, is that this work is a necessary predicate,” Levit said. “But it’s not sufficient. We know the composition of our legislature. We know what direction that composition is moving, and moved in the last election. So change is going to be multi-faceted, and involve lots of groups, and we’re going to stay focused on our piece.”
“I do think abortion and abortion care has been so stigmatized that it's going to take a while to break the ice, and this is not an overnight process,” Levit said. “This is the long game.”
Hoffman said she wants the work and education repro46 is doing to help more Oklahomans pay attention to their policymakers. She hopes her story, and the ones she’s helping tell, will last, and that her children will be able to hear what women endured in a future that includes reproductive health care for everyone.
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